April 2009

The European Las Vegas

Matthew Pitt / 30 April 2009 / Leave a comment

I'm rarely jealous of our American cousins - for one thing they can't play on Betfair but the fact they have easy access to Las Vegas does leave me with a twinge of envy....Read more »

Bluff Catching

Marcus Bateman / 30 April 2009 / 1 Comments

Often in poker you come across situations where although you think you may have the best hand, you want to try and check and make your opponent bluff. These situations often occur when you have a medium strength hand that...Read more »

A Strange Dream

Matthew Pitt / 30 April 2009 / 2 Comments

I've not played much poker over the past couple of days, well not whilst I have been awake anyway! A couple of nights ago I had a really strange dream and I have no idea where it came from!...Read more »

Firing Into Multiple Players

Marcus Bateman / 29 April 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the things you will quickly notice about good players in any variation of poker is how they change their game depending on how many people are in the hand. That great aggressive no limit hold'em player who seems...Read more »

Annette Blogs Live From Monte Carlo EPT

Dave Allan / 28 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Betfair Poker Pro Annette Obrestad has decided to give live updates from the EPT Grand Final Monte Carlo from her micro-blogging account at Twitter. Follow all her updates here live only at Betfair Poker....Read more »

ROI Versus Hourly Rate

Matthew Pitt / 27 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Regardless of of the stakes you play or whether you are a professional or a recreational player, you should be keeping records of any profits and losses incurred from poker. After all, you need or at least should want to...Read more »

Old Books, New Books and Blackjack

Matthew Pitt / 27 April 2009 / 2 Comments

Over the past week I have hardly sat down at my PC and played poker. To be honest I just couldn't be bothered. I go through phases where I really want to play a ton and then others where I...Read more »

Poker and Greed - A Little Anecdote

Marcus Bateman / 26 April 2009 / Leave a comment

When I first started playing poker it was predominantly in a medium sized club run by a local bookmaker....Read more »

Kitten Poker Tournament - Update

Dave Allan / 26 April 2009 / 6 Comments

Special Forum regular Chris Cork introduces the Kitten Charity Poker Tournament to be held on Tuesday 5th May....Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Mair, Acorn, Holmes, Milkybarkid and Vortex of Hate

Matthew Pitt / 24 April 2009 / 2 Comments

I cannot believe it is Friday once again, time is flying by so quickly it is not funny. I actually thought this week would drag, especially as I seem to be awake for 20 hour spells of late but no,...Read more »

Don't Get Sloppy About Your Bet Sizing Live

Marcus Bateman / 23 April 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the classic mistakes I regularly see players make live is to change their bet sizes dependent not on what they feel is the correct bet amount, but on the chips available in front of them....Read more »

WSOP Europe - Online Qualification Is Now Underway

Dave Allan / 21 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Betfair's World Series of Poker Europe is to kick off with a unique online global event this year - The Free Million Dollar Game....Read more »

The UIGEA and US Poker Players

Matthew Pitt / 21 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Blogger Matthew Pitt looks at one reason why US-based players currently can't play on Betfair Poker and explains a little about how the law came to pass. On Friday 13 October 2006, the then President of the United States of...Read more »

Playing Against The Herd

Marcus Bateman / 20 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Often in poker you have to make decisions based not only on the hand in question, but also on future hands that you will play with the same people. When playing large, low buy in online tournaments or freerolls many...Read more »

Common Mistakes Made by New Players

Matthew Pitt / 20 April 2009 / Leave a comment

As someone who plays quite a lot of poker online, a lot of it at the micro and small stakes, I come across new, weak players all of the time. I see the same fundamental mistakes being made day in,...Read more »

Jack Ten - The Fun Hand Of Texas Hold 'Em

Marcus Bateman / 19 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Jack ten is one of the nicest hands you can ever look down at when playing deep stacked no limit hold'em, particularly if it is suited. This is because jack ten is a very versatile hand that often flops monsters,...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Grinder, PGChips, RecessRampage, and Snowman

Matthew Pitt / 17 April 2009 / 1 Comments

Hello and welcome back to my little piece of the internet! It's Friday which means it is blog round-up time once again and this week we have people running well, people running bad and people running bad because they ran...Read more »

When Not To Slow-Play

Matthew Pitt / 15 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Whilst every poker player worth their salt should have an arsenal of tricks and plays to display at the table, they should also be aware when not to use these tricks and when using them is so wrong it is...Read more »

Brains and Balls

Marcus Bateman / 14 April 2009 / 1 Comments

'You gotta have two things to succeed kid - you gotta have brains and you gotta have balls. Now you got too much of one and not enough of the other' - Paul Newman to Tom Cruise in The Color...Read more »

Sleep deprivation

Matthew Pitt / 14 April 2009 / 1 Comments

Could somebody please leave a comment and let me know what this sleep is that normal, childless people talk about? Jesus I am tired right now and it's only been a week since Baby Pud entered the world!...Read more »

WSOPE 2009 Dates Announced

Dave Allan / 13 April 2009 / 1 Comments

The World Series of Poker Europe goes from strength to strength with the announcement that the two week series will not only include a new live event but sees the inclusion of a million dollar online freeroll during its time...Read more »

Poker Blog round-up: Poker Grump, Twitter Poker, Rubbish and Jonny Vincent

Matthew Pitt / 11 April 2009 / 4 Comments

As you would expect, it has been pandemonium in the Pudding household this week, with the arrival of Baby Pud on Monday morning throwing our normal routines straight out of the window. BTW, what is this sleep I hear people...Read more »

Playing Bad with the Best Hand

Marcus Bateman / 09 April 2009 / Leave a comment

This is quite a complex principle to understand to most players, as it seems to go against the intuitive logic of how poker works. I have the best hand, surely getting my money in the pot in any way is...Read more »

Who's the daddy?!

Matthew Pitt / 09 April 2009 / 8 Comments

I am officially a daddy again after Mrs P gave birth to Baby Pudding, who weighed a whopping 9lb 2oz, at 1042 on Monday morning after a seven hour labour!...Read more »

Exploiting Regulars in Online Cash Games

Matthew Pitt / 08 April 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the first things you should do when you sit down at an online cash game is to try an identify and categorise the players you will be playing against. You need to recognise which opponents are ultra tight...Read more »

Knowing Your Place in the Poker World

Marcus Bateman / 07 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Nearly everybody in poker is a relatively bad player. The only ones who can truly claim to be good are those very few players who have managed to stay at the top of the game, making money at all games...Read more »

The Future of Poker

Marcus Bateman / 05 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Poker is a constantly evolving game, and in order to be able to stay consistently profitable a player has to think about how the game will change in the future. Certain games shift dramatically in popularity, and understanding how and...Read more »

Treating poker like a business

Matthew Pitt / 05 April 2009 / 1 Comments

The madness of "year end" should now be over for most workers as today marks the start of the new financial year. Companies will have fresh budgets and goals and poker players should be no different....Read more »

Poker Blog Round-up: Shaniac, Smokee, Ant040689, Amatay and Sensei

Matthew Pitt / 03 April 2009 / 2 Comments

It's that time of week again folks when I try to round-up a few of the more interesting blog posts of the past week. The blog posts at the end of / start of a new month have a common...Read more »

The Kitten Charity Poker Tourney

Dave Allan / 02 April 2009 / 2 Comments

Just before Xmas 2008, Betfair Forumite, Big Brother Guru, and Specials Poker Team Star Player in Battle of the Forums "The Kitten", aka Chris Cork, was diagnosed with Leukaemia....Read more »

My biggest hurdle yet?

Matthew Pitt / 02 April 2009 / 7 Comments

Over the past week or so I have been very excited at the prospect of putting my new found bankroll to good use by moving up in stakes and potentially winning a decent sum of money. However, yesterday my excitement...Read more »

Bluffing the Nut Flush in Omaha

Marcus Bateman / 01 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Due to the fact that you have to use exactly two of the cards from your hand in Omaha, holding just the ace (or king for that matter) of a suit will never enable you to have the nut flush....Read more »

Being Priced in to Call

Matthew Pitt / 01 April 2009 / 1 Comments

One of the most common excuses for a player to call off a portion of their stack with a weak hand is that they were "priced in." Check the chat box when the inevitable happens and the weaker of the...Read more »